Anyone ever have a bad range day?

[tomrkba]

Worse than a day at work? Never!

 

[rondog]

Oh sure. Forgot my ear pro once, forgot my targets another time, forgot ammo for gun or two, always forgetting something. Ruined two 1911 barrels one day with squibs too. That's when I found out my grandson made a few .45 rounds to "help me out", after I'd turned my powder measure off. That was a real butt-chapper of a day!

 

[thegiff]

I went one time in a Santa Ana wind (southern California). It wasn't windy at my house. The range is up in a canyon, and so windy I had to push my car door open with my legs. I couldn't look into the wind, too many rocks flying at me. I hid behind the rangemasters hut for a minute before I gave up and left.

 

[Red Wind]

^ thegiff, do you also call that Santa Ana, a Red Wind?

“ There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge. ”

—Raymond Chandler, "Red Wind"

 

[Reloadron]

There are no bad range days. Some better than others but none bad. My idea of a less than great range day is when I run out of paper for the chronograph printer or the battery goes dead.

My absolute worst day was when I broke a bolt handle off on a 6 PPC I had custom built and that was because of my lousy job of neck turning the brass. Damn Remington bolts anyway.

Ron

 

[JohnKSa]

Yup, two with the same gun.

1st time I took it shooting, I found out the front sight was the wrong height and the elevation was way off. Switched to the .22 pistol I brought (that was the first time I had it at the range as well) and found out that I couldn't get through a magazine without it malfunctioning.

2nd time I took it shooting, the new front sight loosened and nearly fell off. Switched to the .22 revolver I brought as well and the RO came over and told me that I was shooting it too fast and to slow down. Not much point in slowly shooting a .22LR revolver DA. The fact that I was keeping all my shots in nice groups did not sway him.

 

[ljnowell]

I shoot bullseye matches and two different leagues. Last week I went out and was shooting 4-6" groups at 25 yards. I must have wasted 200 rounds. I finally sat down, had a cup of decaf and chatted a bit with my old codger buddies at the gun club then went back to it. Put up a couple much more respectable groups before calling it a day.

If I'm having a really bad day I will set the bar lower if I have to. Switch guns, whatever it takes to leave on a high note. Otherwise I'll just be frustrated until the next match or I get back out to practice.

 

[General Geoff]

Once when I was at the range I was hastily putting my ballistic sunglasses on and accidentally poked my eye with the end of the arm. Scratched my cornea, hurt like hell and left me basically blind in one eye and super light sensitive in the other for a week.

Fortunately the cornea healed over and was back to normal a few weeks later.

 

[ku4hx]

I don't know anybody that hasn't.

 

[Surly]

I'm so glad that I don't have to pay to go to a designated range with range nazis in order to shoot. I wouldn't be a member of any club that would have me.

With that in mind...worst day shooting? Impossible.

 

[mstreddy]

I've posted this elsewhere in the forum, but my absolute worst was one evening.
First, I had brought my Thompson (semi-auto) that a good buddy had been wanting to shoot. I had picked up 3 new mags for it and I grabbed 2 of them. We are trying to shoot it and the mag was not locking in place in the mag well. I would not go in high/deep enough. Both new mags did this. So of course my buddy was forced to shoot it with the mag resting on the bench.
Second, I'm shooting one of my 1911s with some 185 LSWC reloads of mine. I'm finding that I have to nudge each round into battery by slapping the rear or the slide. After a handful of this - I quit shooting those rounds. Upon later review, I found that I had switched bullet brands, same weight, but different profile and they needed to be seated deeper. I had not plunk tested them.
Third and final -- my buddy is shooting my Walther P22, has an odd jam, the slide is coming off the rails at the back, I notice the slide has cracked.
Well, at this point our shooting is pretty much over. 3 guns, three issues.
I've since resolved the Thompson issue, an armorer buddy fit the mags and the catch. I reseated the rounds to a working OAL. And Walther/S&W replaced the broken P22.

And of course, I've forgotten mags, ammo, targets, and even a particular gun that I wanted to shoot.

I also had something close to what Scooter reported above. My S&W AR-15 22 had a part break off the extractor and it started setting off rounds as it was chambering them. Had 2 of those in one session and it had to go to S&W for repair.

I also had a near perfect qualifying score on a string during one of my AF rifle qualifications -- on the other guy's target. Needless to say, I went UNQ and he went expert!

So yeah, bad days, I've had them.

 

[merrill]

I had just purchased a chronograph which I promptly destroyed with my .22. The scope had come loose and it was shooting about 4 inches low.

 

[herkyguy]

My last range day was 11 rounds of Hornady .45ACP out of my ccw XDs. I was shooting at our Halloween pumpkin one morning last week. It Lasted about 2 minutes. I was already late for work at that point, but it sure did put a smile on my face.

Pretty good grouping too.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

Well.... Yeah.

Having for all intents and purposes been shot on a range, I'd say, yeah, I've had a bad range day.

I won't even get into the details of SFC Johnson going all Postal/Former Marine on me one day and beating me about the head and shoulders with a cleaning rod for dragging out "Qualification" due to an unnoticed bent M-16 barrel.

Yeah, I've had a couple-three.

 

[earlthegoat2]

My bad range days usually involve dealing with other folks at the range.

 

[a-sheepdog]

Brother, I think that we all have had a few bad range days. Sadly its a "rare" day when I go out and everything goes perfect. I have to avoid the coffee before I go to the range.

 

[1911 guy]

Shoot long enough and and two things will happen. First, you "never fails" firearm will have some sort of failure, either mechanical or functional and secondly, you'll try like crazy but won't be able to hit the broad side of a barn. We all have a day like that once in a while. I had one last month. Group size was double what it was the week prior with the same rifle, same ammo, same distance.

 

[Gun Master]

Bad Guys at the Range

My bad range days usually involve dealing with other folks at the range.

Yup, including range personnel.

Who's watching over the "Range Master", while he's watching over us ?
(Kind of reminds one of, "Who's taking care of the caretaker's daughter, while the Caretaker's out taking care?", doesn't it ?)

 

[tarosean]

yep, my last USPSA event was a dismal failure, Ive never finished that badly. Not sure what was wrong, but I couldnt hit "the broad side of a barn" so to speak.

 

[lpsharp88]

One that comes to mind happened a year or so ago. Got to the range, paid my fee, got everything set up, and fired a few mags. Someone else came, so I held up and let them get all set up, and we both fired a mag or two. I look over, and see him looking down the barrel of his Glock. Now, it wasn't field stripped, and the action was closed, so for all I knew, it was loaded. I informed him of his mistake and promptly packed up and left. Think that's as bad as it gets for me.

 

[Schwing]

I probably have more bad range days than good as far as my targets are concerned. On the other hand, and it has already been said, any day at the range is a great day for me.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

I had high hopes for a great day shooting my favorite rifle with it's favorite food; no matter what I did, how hard I tried, I couldn't get it together. Sub-MOA sounded like a request at a restaurant: "may I substitute MUD for the MOA please?". The target may as well have been a shotgun patterning board.

If I am off to plink and have a bad day, it does not bother me so much. If I am at the range to sight in a scope, reverify a zero, etc. and can't get the shot group to settle down, it frustrates the hell out of me, especially when I know the rifle/scope/ammo to be in proper order. Then I know it is me. :banghead:

 

[Zach S]

I have days where I could miss the ground if I fell off a horse...

One day I just grabbed my rangebag, threw some .45FMJ and JHPs in it, packed my AR45 and got rolling. The point of the day was rotating carry ammo and sighting in my AR45.

Got there, and the spare magazines I grabbed for my carry gun, a 5" 1911, were for an officers model. Shot so bad I thought about throwing the ammo at the target. Then, when I went to refill my magazine, and the two I bought, I realized I brought 9mm JHPs... So I bought some .45 JHPs, decided to call it a day.

Got home, and instead of grabbing the grease gun mags for my AR45, I grabbed my 9mm AR mags.

I think any more gun related fail that day would have required medical attention.

 

[Ranger Roberts]

Before I had a range in my backyard bad days happened more frequently. Now if something goes wrong I walk 8 feet into the house and fix it.

Back when I belonged to a private range I took my Marlin 336 out for some fun. The second shot in I got the infamous "Marlin lever jam." The lever was stuck open and I had no tools on me so I couldn't even remove the live shells from the magazine tube. Lesson learned... always bring a small tool kit with you to the range!

As far as not being able to hit my target consistently? Nah... I hit everything I aim at.... sometimes I just have to bring the target really close!! Hahaha

 

[Gun Master]

Before I had a range in my backyard bad days happened more frequently. Now if something goes wrong I walk 8 feet into the house and fix it.

Back when I belonged to a private range I took my Marlin 336 out for some fun. The second shot in I got the infamous "Marlin lever jam." The lever was stuck open and I had no tools on me so I couldn't even remove the live shells from the magazine tube. Lesson learned... always bring a small tool kit with you to the range!

As far as not being able to hit my target consistently? Nah... I hit everything I aim at.... sometimes I just have to bring the target really close!! Hahaha

That "Jam" cost me $50. The Marlin belonged to a friend, and I didn't want to return it in worse shape with my "experimentation".